Birthday Wishes

Another year has come and gone...in my life, that is.
First and foremost I would like to send a sincere thanks for all the love and hugs sent across the ocean via snail mail and/or email. I must say, I was the most popular girl at the school's mailbox! I really can't begin to express how much it meant to me that so many people took time to send cards-- especially because I've come to learn it is not part of US culture. Thank you, thank you! It really is the small things in life that count.

So, what did I do for the my Golden Birthday?...I must say it was a birthday I shall never forget.
I actually spent the weekend at World Youth Day for West Africa. In a town about 2-4hours N of Dakar, NW Africa came together to praise and celebrate God. Once again, in a predominantly Muslim country, it was a great experience. It was once again a weekend of simple accomodations but we met lots of cool people. I now have friends from Gabon and Congo!

The weekend was ironically sponsored by a local beer company, so like all good Catholics, the eve of my Golden b-day Lucy, Cody, our new international buddies and I could throw back a couple of cold ones! I was off to a great start!

Sunday, my birthday, the final mass was supposed to start at 9:30...long story short around 11:30 in 90degree heat w/ the sun beating directly down on the crowd smashed into a stadium like sardines the mass was just starting- but with a military band and political talks about the church's role in Africa... sun burn. Tired, hot and dirty, Lucy, Cody and I decided to skip out and find our own way back to a real mass in Dakar.
The rather normal, tired, hot, sun-burnt and dirty we found a ride back to Dakar. About an hour into the drive a young lady decided to cross the street without looking just as we were wizzing past. Being that it was my birthday, I was in the front seat and thus got a front row seat as we hit her, she rolled over the hood and landed back on the side of the road! By the grace of God and miracles, she was o.k...no blood or broken bones...we were all shaken up quite a bit...
Our hired taxi took off with her to the local hospital and we were left under a tree in mid-day heat...about 1-2hrs later we found another ride...
Finally we made it back to Dakar where my host family had forgotten it was my birthday. Birthdays are not really celebrated here, and I knew that so I bought myself a doughnut, took a cold shower and decided to give myself a good long night sleep- in a bed- for my birthday!
So once again, thank you all so much for the letters of love! It really made the day a special day!

I'm now off to my last trip... tonight 7 of us will take an all night boat ride to S Senegal, the Casamance. Everyone says its beautiful, green, lush and with lots of mangos! They also speak Creole Portugese...so I have a feeling its gonna be a great week!